Vernault
by EquusGold
Summary: One Jedi. Eight clones. When it seems that everyone in the galaxy has turned against them, they have no one to trust but each other. So can they prove that they have what it takes?


Vernault

_The whirling sand obscured her vision and she found herself twisting aimlessly as blaster fire sounded all around her. The clanking of the droids and the screams of wounded men, both Jedi and clones, created a din that was almost unbearable. She stumbled backward, searching for her master, seeking his sound guidance in the midst of this chaos. Her foot caught on something and she fell backwards, falling flat over the body of Quatan Roh. She stared into the lifeless eyes of her master._

_The battle was slowing now, the Jedi being evacuated onto the gun ships. She stood, dazed, not believing what she was seeing. Then there was a firm hand on her arm, pulling her upright and dragging her towards the last ship. She began to mutter, incoherent words tumbling out of her mouth and then her knees gave out and she nearly collapsed into the dust, if not for the hand that held her upright._

_She was picked up into a set of strong arms and dashed towards the gun ship, a short flying leap setting them onboard as it took off. She was gingerly placed back on her feet and she gripped the handle above her._

"_Are you all right, ma'am?" a voice called over the sound of the engines. She glanced up, peering into the black visor of a clone trooper. His shiny white armour was plastered with orange dust from the planet below. _

"_I will be," she murmured. She felt light headed and weak. Swaying forwards she leaned her head against the trooper's chest plate. The trooper didn't move he just held her steady even as the ship rocked in gunfire._

The night was still and quite when a hand gently nudged her shoulder and shook her awake. She sat up and opened her eyes to the crooked grin of Chip.

"Is it that time already?" Shae Vernault grumbled half-heartedly. She shook her tangled mass of hair out of her eyes and quickly combed it with her fingers before throwing it in a loose ponytail. She stood and stretched her arms out over her head, rolling a few kinks out of her shoulders.

"It certainly is ma'am. Everyone's refreshed and ready to move out, though how any of us got to sleep last night with all the racket you was making," he looked at her sideways from under his cropped brown hair with the ghost of a grin on his face, though it looked slightly forced. Shae raised an eyebrow and snorted indignantly.

"I do _not _snore, so don't even think about it!" Chip shook his head in mock misery as they walked towards the other troopers.

"It wasn't the snoring, ma'am – for once," he added in an undertone, earning himself a scalding glare from his fiery headed general. "It was the muttering,"

"And moaning," another trooper called Two-Bits added with a shudder. One of his brothers guffawed and cuffed him 'round the ears.

"'_I will be…' _will be what, ma'am?" Chip asked, his curiosity making his face look even more boyish than usual. Shae scowled. She didn't want to talk about it, especially not with nosy, loose-lipped troopers.

"Don't you strain your pretty little head over it, Chip," she smirked and walked over to her Captain. Hail stood with his helmet tucked under one arm his other hand resting on his hip. His shaggy brown hair hung low over his brow as he stared into the distance, head cocked to the side slightly.

Shae stood next to him silently and stared at his face, thinking about how he had hardly changed since he first saved her life that day on Geonosis. He had grown his hair longer, painted his armour in Shae's colours of black and red and taken his own name, but other that he was still the same incredibly brave, furiously stubborn and extremely loyal trooper that had first dragged her off the battlefield.

He noticed her staring at him and raised an eyebrow, a smirk curling in the corner of his mouth.

"Yes General?" Shae ducked her head, blushing furiously. Hail pretended not to notice, though she could tell by the way he watched her that he was curious.

"It's nothing," she looked down.

"Bad dreams are nothing to be ashamed of," He ducked his head down so that he could look her eye. "We all get them, General Vernault. Don't let the boys put you down," Shae curled her arms around herself and smiled slightly.

"It wasn't all bad," Hail's eyes flicked back to her, having wandered over to the other troopers. "I dreamed about the battle of Geonosis, how my master died and how you saved me," Shae looked up at him, emotion swimming in her eyes. Hail stayed silent, wondering where this was heading.

"I never said thankyou, for saving me," she said softly. "So thankyou,"

Hail nodded, not sure what to say.

"It was my duty. And besides," he grinned roguishly. "You said thankyou in your own way when you made one of the youngest, most inexperienced clones your Captain," Shae laughed out loud.

"Yes, I suppose I did. You've done magnificently, you know, for a young, inexperienced clone," Hail ducked his head at her compliment.

"You haven't done so badly yourself, for a peace keeper," Hail wagged his finger at her while Shae rolled her eyes.

"Come on you, its time to go," She punched his armoured arm softly as she turned to walk back to the group. Strangely, she heard Hail sigh softly behind her. She cast off the thought however, figuring it was just the early mornings getting to everyone.

"Radar!" she called, searching for the tech clone with the distinctive stripy armour. She saw his helmet pop out of a small knot of clones to her left. Shae strode up to him, turning on her 'General' mode. "Have you plotted the coordinates for today?"

She knew that he had, given the dark rings beneath his eyes as he slipped his helmet off.

"Yes, General, we're all ready to go,"

"Good. And next time," she caught his shoulder as he turned to walk away, her eyes softening. "Get some help if it's going to take you so long. I don't want anyone tired and at a disadvantage. Alright?"

"Yes, General," He repeated softly. "Sorry," Shae smiled to show that no harm had been done.

Radar was one of the many clones that she had to take in addition to her usual squad of eight. For this mission they would need the number apparently. Shae didn't like it. She knew and trusted her boys. It had only been a few months and yet they were had accepted her as a sister, rather than just their commanding officer. She liked to take care of them and so far there had only been one casualty, but he had sacrificed himself for the rest of them. That had been Hail's predecessor, Briggs.

Shae called her eight lads together away from the rest of the clones. They were all strong, independent and free thinking soldiers who formed and incredible team. There was Chip, Two-Bits, Tandem, Brace, Monk, Alamo, and Bucky and, of course, Hail.

"Watch over them. You all know that we don't operate like the others in the GAR. Make sure we don't get any heroes. No needless sacrifices. Make it clear to them please," Shae was panicking slightly and took a deep breath to calm down. The thought of loosing any of the clones weighed heavily on her mind. "And watch out for yourselves. I know it sounds horrible, but I would rather loose one of them than one of you. I don't know if we could ever put a team like ours back together if we lost even one of us." She didn't like being so brutally honest about something like that, but she could see by the furtive glances that they all cast around at each other that they felt the same way. Hail stared straight at her ceaselessly and she felt slightly unsettled by the intensity of his gaze.

"We won't fail you General Vernault!" They cried together and she smiled at them all.

"Thankyou, all of you," Shae turned stiffly on her heel. "Let's do this,"


End file.
